The undocumented Irish community in the U.S. received a major boost today with the announcement from the White House that it will push forward with a legalization program. Homeland Security boss Janet Napolitano said the Obama administration is seeking a "tough but fair pathway to earned legal status."

The American Ireland Fund pulled off a huge coup last night. At a time when black tie dinners are falling by the wayside like road kill, the American Ireland Fund New York dinner managed to defy the current recession and raise over $2.3 million, in one of their most successful dinners ever

Senator Charles Schumer of New York will hold the first hearing on the issue of immigration reform on Thursday, April 30 in Washington, D.C.

In a move that will be welcomed by the 50,000 undocumented Irish in the U.S., John Sweeney, the Irish-American leader of the labor union

The Obama administration is to kick start a new debate on immigration reform - legislation could happen in the fall. On Wednesday, a White House official said that the President would begin examining ways in which undocumented workers could gain a path to citizenship. The President reportedly wants a "policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system.”

Over 350 Boston Irish braved a dark dreary evening to come to the Irish Cultural Center of New England in Canton, MA for a meeting on immigration. The meeting had been organized by the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR)

  New York's Senator Charles Schumer is the new chairman of the Senate Immigration-Sub

The well-known Irish immigration advocate Bart Murphy is taking over as chairman of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR). Murphy, who sits on the board of the American Ireland Fund and is the chair of the coalition of Irish Immigration Centers, is one of theoriginal ILIR board members. He will be taking over from current chairman Niall O'Dowd.

ILIR vice chairman Ciaran Staunton held a two-hour meeting with the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin last week. Staunton met with Foreign Affairs Minister Micheal Martin and the new secretary general of the department, David Cooney. Staunton said he was heartened by the Irish government's commitment to the issue.

"THE concept of an amnesty, wiping the sheet clean, is just not on." "They are talking from a position of sitting in the bar, and talking nonsense."With these comments made while standing on the steps of the U.

The Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform (ILIR) met with Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern on Thursday, May 1 in an effort to heal a recent rift between the parties on the issue of the Irish undocumented immigrants The meeting, which took place at 8 am, comprised of ILIR chairman Niall O'Dowd, Vice-Chairman Ciaran Staunton, Executive Director Kelly Fincham, former Congressman Bruce Morrison, San Francisco board member Bart Murphy and ILIR President Jeff Cleary. From the Irish Government there was Ahern, Secretary General of the Department Dermot Gallagher Irish Ambassador to the U.S.

The system of Irish emigration to the U.S. has been broken since 1965. For over 44 years it has been nothing short of a haphazard, sporadic mess that, every now and then, has been temporarily tidied up by once-off fixes such as the Donnelly and Morrison visa programs.

New Ambassador Takes Over

The New Irish Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Collins has taken up his position in Washington, D.